Here’s something to think about the next time Jake Schroeder sings both “O Canada” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as he did Saturday night before the Avs-Canucks game at the Pepsi Center.
Saturday is Veterans Day, with the federal observance moved up to Friday, and it comes as we continue to lose more than 1,000 U.S. veterans of World War II daily. In Canada, the holiday is called Remembrance Day, and Nov. 11 commemorates the anniversary of the end of World War I.
In my travels through Canada covering the NHL, I have been struck many times by how we tend to underappreciate the role of the nation to our north in the fighting throughout World War II, and in the Normandy campaign in particular.
On D-Day, Canadians came ashore at what the Allies designated Juno Beach, to the east of the more famous Utah and Omaha beaches.
Altogether, about 1,000 Canadians died in the first week of Normandy fighting. That was a small slice of the approximately 45,000 Canadians who died in the war.
Garth Webb, 87, of Burlington, Ontario, served at Normandy and helped lead a campaign that led to the 2003 opening of the Juno Beach Centre, a museum honoring the Canadian contributions in the invasion, in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France.
“I went there on a LCT (Landing Craft-Tank) because we had some guns called ‘priests,’ which were 105mm guns on Sherman chassis,” he said in a phone conversation. “We fired from the water onto the beach in support of the guys before they landed. After that, we came into the beach.”
On June 6, the 62nd anniversary of D-Day, Webb took part in the dedication of a monument honoring the Canadians killed.
The monument is at Bernieres-sur-Mer, the village at Juno. In a brief speech, he said it was an honor to be back at the site of the landings. And he read from the message on the monument, which says it is dedicated “to the men who fought without promise, reward or relief for the liberation of Europe and the hope of a better world.”
Canadians also helped support the landings of U.S. troops on the other beaches, and in checking around about that, I came across Wally Strang, a retired radio newsman in Edmonton, Alberta. He had gotten into the Royal Canadian Navy at 16 by lying about his age.
“We loaded up American soldiers off the Isle of Wight, just at the entrance to the English Channel,” he said.
Eventually, he said, the Canadian ships unloaded the Americans at Utah Beach.
“There were a whole flotilla of Canadian craft that went in there,” he said. “These were LCILs – Landing Craft Infantry (Large). The fronts didn’t open. The ramps came down the side, and the soldiers came off the sides.”
He added, “Pretty much all the soldiers we took in were black Americans. A lot of people don’t know that.”
I had to admit I didn’t. But I subsequently discovered that the involvement of African-American soldiers on Utah Beach and the Normandy campaign is a matter of record, including their role as guards for German POWs on the beach.
Strang, who became a police officer in Vancouver, British Columbia, after returning from the war and then shifted to radio work, got to know many Canadian Juno Beach soldiers as an activist and officer in one of the Edmonton-area Canadian Legion posts. “There’s very few of us left now, though,” he said.
Sadly, he’s right.
If you listen to the Avalanche radio broadcasts, you have heard the ads for the Denver-based The Greatest Generations Foundation, tirelessly represented by KOA newsman Steffan Tubbs. That organization raises money to send veterans of World War II, plus the Korean and Vietnam wars, back to where they fought, at no cost. The visits can be bittersweet, of course, especially for those who were in heavy and horrific fighting and lost close friends.
More information on the Greatest Generation Fund is available at www.tggf.us.
Thanks again, to them all. On both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
As the Flyers turn
In the wake of the upheaval in the Flyers’ organization, team chairman Ed Snider spoke with NHL vice president Colin Campbell, a former Rockies defenseman, about taking over as general manager. The two men have worked closely on the league’s competition committee, but Campbell decided against officially becoming a candidate. So Paul Holmgren will remain the interim general manager.
Fired Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock, meanwhile, agreed to work as a pro scout for the team, which makes sense because he has two more seasons left on his contract.
Also, Peter Forsberg pulled a bit of a “Melo” in the Flyers’ loss Thursday against Tampa Bay, getting tossed for arguing about a high-sticking call against him. He ended up with a double-minor for high-sticking, an unsportsmanlike conduct minor and a 10-minute misconduct. Because it all came with 4:10 left in the third period, he was done for the night.
Forsberg didn’t talk with the media after the game, and he told reporters after Friday’s practice that he was frustrated because he believed he had been hooked.
“I don’t usually criticize the refs,” he said, “but it’s tough when you do your best and you don’t get a fair chance.”
Flameout
The biggest disappointment of the season so far in the West? Calgary, hands down. After Saturday, the Flames were five points behind Vancouver, which was in the eighth spot.
“We’ve dug ourselves a hole,” captain Jarome Iginla told reporters. “Nobody in our room is feeling, ‘It’s early.’ It’s now. We need to stop this and start winning and start climbing back.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
